In America, approximately nine to ten million recreational vehicles (“RVs”) are driven across freeways, surface streets, and dirt roads. As an attractive way to spend time with family and friends while travelling between sites, the RV transports people through all forms of terrain and types of weather.
RVs range from very simple and inexpensive to massively complicated budget-breakers. One feature common to nearly all RVs, however, is an awning. Because an RV is not just a vehicle but converts to a home or hotel when parked, the side of an RV often becomes a welcoming front porch, complete with a front door, stairs down from the door, a carpet on the ground, and shade from above. Most RVs come equipped with—or are later modified to include—an awning that the owner can unfurl and leave deployed to shade the side of their RV and the ground and people next to it. When it is time to pack the RV up and drive off, the awning can be furled back to its storage position.
Awnings, however, are made of fabric, sometimes coated with a poly or plastic material, and so are susceptible to damage from the sun and rain. Many RV owners know the telltale cracking and peeling of an old RV awning. Such awnings require replacement if the owner wishes to continue to have shade. Replacement is not always cheap, and new awnings can run several hundred if not one thousand dollars. Moreover, despite the illustrative drawings herein, this problem is not unique to RVs. Awnings are used in a wide variety of locations and installations and are affected by the same issues. A way to protect awnings from exposure to the environment is needed.